


Ryan's Hope

by GE72



Category: Kids Incorporated
Genre: Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 06:15:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10565325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GE72/pseuds/GE72
Summary: (Season 2) A girl from Ryan's hometown arrives for a visit, and it's very obvious he still has feelings for her.





	

As the guitar player of Kids Incorporated, it was only a question of how well Ryan would catch on as the newest member of the band. The answer was very fast.

After his initial show, the fans – especially the girls – seemed accepting of him. The feedback of his inclusion in the band was very positive. As for the rest, like fitting in at school and in the neighborhood, that went smoothly as well. The teachers seemed to like him, and so did the rest of the student body. He made friends quickly, and even went on a date with Andrea, one of the band’s dancers (though he was later told by Gloria there was an unwritten rule about dating within the band).

One day, Ryan arrived at The P*lace looking not like himself. Usually, he came in reading a book, but there was no book with him this time. He seemed down and a little less enthused. Everyone noticed it, even during their opening set on stage at The P*lace. 

When their set was done, Ryan went over to a table and sat by himself. The others – Gloria, Renee, The Kid, and Stacy – gave him a few seconds before joining him.

“Is something wrong?” Gloria asked.

“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” Ryan asked back.

“You’ve been moping all day,” Renee replied, “even up on stage.”

“Just feeling a little blue, that’s all,” Ryan said.

“You’re too young to be clinically depressed,” The Kid said.

Ryan sighed, and sank a little in his seat.

“He is clinically depressed,” Renee said.

“I was going through some boxes last night at home,” Ryan finally said, “stuff that hadn’t yet been unpacked since we moved here. I came upon some old photos. Some of me and my friends from back home, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” Stacy asked.

“One in particular,” Ryan answered. “I hadn’t seen her in a long time.”

“Her?” asked Renee.

“Is this where we leave?” Stacy asked The Kid.

“Let’s wait and see,” The Kid replied.

“I really miss her,” Ryan said, sinking a little more in his seat.

Renee looked at Gloria and asked, “Should we be calling a therapist or someone like that?”

“Her name is Hope,” Ryan said. “I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately.”

“Is he getting mushy?” Stacy asked.

“Not yet,” The Kid replied.

“Of all the people I miss back there,” Ryan said, “Hope is the one that I miss the most.” 

“He really is depressed,” Renee said. 

“C’mon, Ryan,” Gloria said as she guided him to the stage. “Maybe our next song can lift you up a little.”

As the band performed their next set, a girl about thirteen years old came into The P*lace. She went right to the counter, as Riley, the manager of the P*lace, noticed her.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked the girl.

“Just a soda,” she replied, looking over to the stage. As Riley handed her a glass of soda, she spotted someone on stage.

“The guy up there,” she said. “Is that Ryan?”

“Yes, it is,” Riley replied. “Do you know him?”

“I do,” she said. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Their set finished up, the Kids headed to the counter, where Riley was waiting for them. The girl who was there earlier had excused herself to go to the ladies room.

“Ryan, there’s a girl here looking for you,” Riley said.

“Really?” Whatever doldrums Ryan was in, that seemed to snap him out of it. He looked over to The Kid. “Quick, how does my hair look?”

“Looks okay, Ryan,” The Kid assured.

“Where is she, Riley?” Ryan asked.

“There she is.” Riley pointed to the girl, who was coming towards them. Ryan turned to face her…..and he went pale.

“Hi Ryan,” she said. The girl was a brunette, with soft features. And there were her eyes. They were very blue, somewhat sparkling. At least to Ryan, they were sparkling.

Ryan had trouble getting his mouth to function, but finally he blurted out, “Hope….you’re here.”

“It’s been so long Ryan,” she said. “How have you been?”

The others watched with varying degrees of astonishment. “This is kind of like that scene in ‘Grease’ where Danny met Sandy at the school,” Gloria said to the others.

Ryan tried to answer Hope’s query, as he managed to say, “Hope, I….I ….I…” Then, he fainted.

They all looked at the now out cold Ryan, flat on the floor. 

Stacy said to Gloria, “That didn’t happen in ‘Grease,’ did it?”

 

Mario and Darren, their drummer and bass player, respectively, had to help Ryan off the floor. They hauled his unconscious body back to the dressing room under Gloria’s directions.

“The next time we do this, we’re both asking for extra pay,” Mario said, as he and Darren placed Ryan in a chair, somewhat slumped, but beginning to stir awake. They left Gloria and Ryan in the dressing room, as The Kid came inside.

“What happened?” Ryan asked as he regained consciousness.

“You fainted,” The Kid replied, “right in front of your lady friend.”

“I did?” 

“We all saw it,” Gloria said. “Smooth move.”

Ryan slumped more in the chair. “I can’t believe I did that.”

“So what’s the deal?”

Ryan finally sat up in his chair. “Hope and I knew each other back in Ohio.”

“How well did you know her?” 

“Well enough,” Ryan replied.

“If you know her that well,” Gloria said, “you wouldn’t have fainted. I ‘m guessing you had it real bad for her.”

“If you only knew,” Ryan said.

“If you get mushy, I’m leaving,” The Kid warned.

Ryan drew a deep breath, and started talking. “About a year before I moved out here,” he said, “Hope moved into our town. She was very friendly to everybody.”

“Everyone but you?” asked Gloria.

“No,” Ryan replied. “The first time I saw her, I thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. I mean, you saw her, right?” Kid and Gloria nodded.  
“But every time I got near her,” Ryan said, “something in me went haywire. I couldn’t do anything right around her. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t think straight…”

“You passed out,” The Kid added.

“No, that didn’t happen until today,” Ryan said. “I felt like an idiot around her. When I talked to other girls, I had no problems. But when I was around Hope, it was nothing but problems.”

Gloria thought about what Ryan had said, then she said, “Sounds to me like Hope is the first girl you ever truly liked.”

“I think that’s kind of obvious,” The Kid added.

“Hope? Me?” Ryan looked bewildered. “Well, I guess she is. But why can’t I stay standing around her? I can’t even be myself.”

“Face it, Ryan,” Gloria said. “You’ve gone through everyone eventually goes through. You’re addicted to love.”

 _Addicted to love?_ Ryan pondered that. He pictured himself in a hospital room with doctors and nurses talking about his condition as he lay there in bed. He then pictured Andrea is a nurse’s uniform, holding a hypodermic needle, and with a smirk, sticking the needle in his –

“But what can I do about it?” Ryan asked.

“Talk to her,” Gloria said. “Just be yourself.”

“And what if I faint again?” 

The Kid said, “We’ll just tell her you were being yourself.”

 

Gloria went back to the lobby of The P*lace, where others were sitting around. At one of the tables, Renee and Stacy were sitting and talking with Hope. Gloria was about to join them when Renee stood up and went over to her.

“She’s a sweet girl, but she’s causing some problems,” Renee said to her.

“Like what?” Gloria asked.

“Some of the boys here are falling for her – literally,” Renee replied. “A few minutes ago, Mario couldn’t take his eyes off her, and the soda he was trying to drink missed his mouth. Then Darren was looking over at her but wasn’t looking where he was going and tripped over a bunch of chairs.”

Gloria looked over at Hope. She was there, talking to Stacy. “I’ll talk to her,” Gloria said. She went over to the table and joined the conversation. A little small talk ensued before Gloria asked about her and Ryan.

“How well do you know Ryan?” she asked.

“I knew him for a year before he moved out here,” Hope replied. “When my parents told us we were coming out here for a few days, I thought I’d look Ryan up, especially when I found out he was part of your band. He’s so different from when I first met him.”

“How so?” asked Stacy.

“He was always keeping to himself,” Hope replied, “reading a book. For a bit I thought he was kind of bookworm, but he was more than that.”

“Really?” Gloria said.

“He was smart, kind, always thoughtful,” Hope said. 

Stacy asked, “We are talking about Ryan, right?”

“He was the quiet kind of guy, but he was like I said, smart, thoughtful, always caring,” Hope answered.

“So why did he faint around you?” 

“I knew he always liked me,” Hope said. “Apparently, more than I realized.”

Gloria said to Hope, “Well, hopefully, when you talk to Ryan again, he won’t pass out.”

As if on cue, Ryan came out from backstage, with The Kid following him close by, presumably to keep him upright just in case he did faint.

“She’s just a girl, so just talk to her,” The Kid said to Ryan.

“She’s no ordinary girl,” Ryan said back, “at least as far as I’m concerned.”

Ryan made it to where Hope was sitting. Stacy and Gloria left with The Kid and Renee, leaving Ryan with Hope, and his hope of staying off the floor.

“Hi Ryan,” she said. “Feeling better?”

“So far, so good,” Ryan replied. “Sorry I fainted. So, what are you doing here?”

“As I was telling Gloria earlier, my family came out here for a visit,” Hope replied. “When I heard this is where you were living now and that you were in a band, I knew I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Well, I’m okay,” Ryan said. _At least until today._

“I was hoping to do some catching up,” Hope said. “Maybe we can go somewhere we can be alone.”

“No, here is fine. So, how are you doing?” Ryan asked Hope.

“I’m doing fine. My family’s doing well. Yours?”

“Same here. My grandmother is living with us. It’s a little tough, but we’re doing good.” Ryan searched for the next words to say. “When I first came here, I wasn’t sure how I would fit in. When I heard about this band, I came by to see what they were about, and I ended up joining them. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“That’s good to hear Ryan,” Hope said. “Back home, some of my friends were trying to get a singing group together. They asked me to join but I said no.”

“I bet you would be a great singer.”

“Maybe, but not now. Wow, Ryan, I can’t believe how much we’ve changed in a year.”

“I can’t either. One day, I’m in Ohio, reading a mystery book in my room, then the next day, I’m here in California, rocking on stage.”

There were a couple of moments of awkward silence, then Ryan said, “You know, I’ve always liked you Hope.”

“I know you have, Ryan,” she said back.

“It’s just that when I was around you back then, I couldn’t do anything right. Even now, I’m not sure if I’m even saying the right things.”

“You are,” Hope said. 

“Maybe if I got my guitar,” Ryan said, “that would help.” He went up on stage, picked up his electric guitar, and brought it back to the table where he and Hope were sitting.  
“My grandfather told me sometimes if you have something to say to a girl,” Ryan said, “but can’t say it right, add a little music to it. He said he proposed to my grandmother while a band was playing.” He plucked a few notes on the guitar, and began to sing to Hope.

_I could start dreamin' but it never ends/As long as you're gone we may as well pretend/I've been dreamin'/  
Straight from the heart…._

When he was done, Ryan hoped he had said – or sang – the right words to Hope.

“That was beautiful Ryan,” she said to him. They were the right words.

“Thanks Hope.”

The two got up and went outside. It was an hour later before they returned. The rest of the band was waiting for their wayward lovesick guitar player.

“Glad to see you’re back” Renee said. “We have a show to do.”

“Sorry if I kept him too long,” Hope said. “We just went around the neighborhood, and talked, that’s all.”

Ryan turned to face Hope. “Want to stick around for our next set?”

“I will, but then I’ll have to go,” Hope said. “Me and my family are headed home tomorrow, and we have to get ready.”

“I’m glad I got to see you again,” Ryan said to her.

Stacy asked The Kid, “Is he getting mushy?”

“I’m glad I got to see you too,” Hope said. “Maybe we can see each other again soon.”

“I’d like that,” Ryan said.

“Now he’s getting mushy,” The Kid said to Stacy.

“Hope,” Ryan said, “before you go…” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. All who saw it, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

“Thank you, Ryan,” Hope said, slightly blushing.

Ryan looked as if he was going to say something. Instead, he dropped to the floor out cold. The others looked on as he hit the floor.

“I’m not picking him up this time!” Mario called out from the stage.

Gloria stood over her bandmate. “Ryan? Are you okay?”

Ryan opened his eyes and smiled. “It was worth it.”


End file.
